New Book

One of the reasons for this blog was to keep an ongoing list of great books and short stories. Well, I have failed miserably. However, I have just read an exceptional book that I want EVERYONE to read. I am going to teach it to my 12th grade students, and figured before I can do that I should at least read it first! Read it I did, and I fell in love with it. As I laid in bed reading I reflected on my own life and blessings, I cried, I giggled, and I gained a new appreciation and understanding towards a different culture; a culture I had never had respect or patience for. The book is called A Thousand Splendid Suns, and it is a fictional story based on real life events in Afghanistan. The book follows two women's lives, detailing the horror, heart break, triumphs, and tragedies they face. The story intricately weaves their existence together and through a well-written account provokes strong emotions in the reader. At first I was apprehensive, because as I have previously stated, I had no respect or patience for the people of Afghanistan. This apprehension, however, was quickly revealed as ignorance and close mindedness. Our society often times paints the people of Afghanistan as terrorists, extreme religious practitioners, people who need our "saving", or simply too different of a culture to give any heed to. While reading this book I found that my preconceived notions about this country and the people in it were grossly incorrect. Reading this book has even inspired me to do extra research to further educate myself on this war torn country. This novel is exquisite. I sincerely hope that some of the people that read this blog will go out and buy it, or at least listen to it on a book on tape (Mom). I will warn you though-- the author does not shy away from detailing the true horrors that took place, and at times the novel can be graphic and brutally honest. However, I feel that a lot of us are ignorant to what is truly going on in the Middle Eastern countries, and we can all benefit from reading this book, or any book like it.